East Coast’s I-95 Gets Real-Time Traffic Reports

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The East Coast by summer will have real-time traffic reports, available free, using a sophisticated network of in-vehicle transponders that should in theory – remember, we’re talking evolving technology here – be far more accurate than traffic choppers and embedded roadway sensors. It’s a joint venture between Inrix Corp., a Microsoft spinoff, and the I-95 Corridor Coalition. Inrix already sells the data that’s sent to embedded and portable navigation devices, typically via the Clear Channel radio network. Now it’s being provided to the government for redistribution online, via road signs (those useful things that say “Slow – Congestion Ahead”), and 511 phone services. That will be free other than the tolls, gasoline fees, and incomes taxes you already pay to keep government humming along efficiently.

The I-95 Corridor Coalition covers the traffic agencies of 16 states and the initial coverage will be on 2,500 miles of major roads including Interstate 95. Inrix will rely heavily on probe data, meaning two-way transponders in vehicles that also have GPS location sensors. Inrix will also roll up other reports from embedded roadway sensors, traffic cameras, and traditional police / highway department reports, though Inrix believes sensors are costly to install and maintain (especially in frost and pothole regions), so they’re going away. Others (not Inrix currently) like cellphone location-sensing for traffic flow information.
The coalition believes the costs (not disclosed) will be outweighed by time saved when motorists know to take an alternate route, or defer their trips until traffic clears. One report (by the Texas Transportation Institute) puts the value of wasted time for the country at $78 billion a year in lost hours and wasted fuel. Eventually, the coalition hopes the traffic reports will extend the entire eastern seaboard, from Florida to Maine.